How can we make Good Friday and Easter something special?
Depth of gratitude flows from connecting with an experience
and its meaning…
One mom I know makes birthdays special by reminding her kids of how excited she was on the day of their birth (leaving out certain painful parts).
Connecting with the
suffering of Jesus only sweetens the celebration of His resurrection!
A powerful way of connecting is to IMAGINE WHERE THE PERSON WAS AND WHAT THEY WERE DOING. And because most of us tend to process in terms of a schedule or calendar, imagine what it would be like to set reminders on your phone at each important hour.
GOOD FRIDAY
12:00-6:00 AM --Arrest, taken several places, condemned and mistreated by religious leaders
6:00-8:30 AM — Pilate, Herod, Pilate again, beating and scourging
8:30 AM — Final sentencing by Pilate
9:00 AM — Crucifixion
11:30 AM — Thief on the cross
12:00 PM — 3 hours to go
3:00 PM — Final words of Jesus and His death
Example of more in-depth reflection…
8:30-9:00 AM-- I remember at this time You were being led to Golgotha
Remembering...
- It must have been a cool, crisp morning, sun shining brightly, birds singing...
- You had been beaten and scourged to the point of death (remember “the Passion”), your body was so torn up and beaten beyond recognition
- You were alone carrying the cross, your closest friends had denied and abandoned you
- The procession was led by one who proclaimed the nature of the crime (which was written on a white, wooden board) "hail King of the Jews" which would have angered many of the people
- A group of people were following you, mourning and lamenting. Jesus, you turned and said “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and your children…” (Luke 22:27-29)
- They enlisted the help of a foreigner, Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross the rest of the way, probably because you had collapsed under its weight. I can only imagine you looking in his eyes with gratitude, marking him forever as your friend
- Some of the people who had shouted “Hosanna to the Son of David” a week before had just shouted “Crucify Him!" Some were looking on with disgust, some with hate, some with confusion, some were weeping
- As you neared the place you would be crucified, you were probably remembering the verses about the Passover Lamb, how you were carrying the sin of the world and bearing our punishment
Prayer & Worship
I can only imagine the painful, nearly ½ mile walk, to the place you were crucified…
Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice, for enduring the rejection,
the physical and verbal assaults, the spiritual weight of our sin...
And I can only imagine what it was like to see faces of
people who worshipped you who had turned on you and rejected your love...
Isaiah 53:7-8 He was
oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb
to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not
open his mouth. By oppression and
judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the
living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.
And finally, here is a great resource by Josh Byers. View it larger or print it out as a reference here: http://joshbyers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/The-Passion-Week-Poster.jpg
